Best All-Time HS All-Star XC Team by State

Lone Star wrote:

Please update Texas for the following:

1) Reuben Reina - 1st footlocker 1985 (course record holder)

2) Craig Lutz - 1st NXN/4th footlocker 2009 (set the course record @ NXN)

3) Daniel Vertiz - 2nd NXN/5th footlocker 2011

4) Brad Hauser - 4th footlocker 1993

5) Reed Connor - 1st NXN 2008 (set the course record @ NXN)

6) Colby Lowe - 2nd NXN/4th footlocker 2007

7) Alan Culpepper - 4th footlocker 1990

if you could give me HS times, that would be much appreciated.

CoachKedge wrote:

Let me take a stab at New Mexico males

Tony Sandoval (1980 Oly)

George Young (1968 Oly bronze 3K steeple)

Chuck Aragon (4th - Oly trials)

Shadrack Kiptoo ~4:02 HS mile

Matt Tebo 8:47 HS 2 mi

David Krumanacker

Brandon Leslie

Considerations for Peter Graham, Chip Smith, Benjamin Johnson, Rob Hipwood, ... chime in if I've missed a biggie

Ric Rojas?

old owl wrote:

br0ski wrote:

I agree remove McArdle and Quigley (mainly Quigley) but I would add a more modern runner:

Mark Amirault

Chris Barnicle

Jonathan Green

In order I would go:

Massachusetts:

1. Abdirizak Mohammed

2. Alberto Salazar

3. Andy Powell

3. Franklyn Sanchez

4. Jonathan Riley

6. Tom McArdle

7. Chris Barnicle

No way Dulong is not on that list. He was a super star in HS. What did McArdle do? This is based on HS performance, Moynihan also belongs there. I would put Barry Sirchis ahead of Amirault, Barnicle, Green, Quigley and McArdle. You could put mark Coogan ahead of that group and maybe dan Foley of St. John's Prep. This is all based on HS XC.

Mark Lech, Stetson Arnold, Andy Downin, Johnny Kelley?

I was thinking more about what these guys did at Footlocker and Nike.

I was thinking more along the lines of how they did at Footlocker and now Nike.

Ohio research wrote:

[quote]One Addition wrote:

During this same period Laura Craven was running incredible times on the roads but I believe never ran for her school. She ran the 15 mile Charleston distance classic in 1:33 as an 11 yr old. At 14 in 1979 she ran 35:33 at the L'eggs mini 10k in NY.

I'm not from Ohio, but I have some odds and ends and some interesting bits of info regarding some of their runners from the late 70s/early 80s.

Both Craven and Bob Mau qualified out of the NE Regional at VCP in '81. Mau then qualified the following year via the MW Regional.

John Zishka told me that he was down running AAU Nationals in Raleigh in '79 when the MW Kinney Regional was being run in the Chicago area.

I suspect that George Nicholas never ran at either the '79 or '80 Kinney Regional - can anybody confirm/know why he skipped those meets?

Also, wasn't sure what Pittman's story was as a HS XC runner. Obviously not as good as some of the aforementioned names, but presumably pretty good considering his track PRs.

some VA times:

Virginia

1. Alan Webb - 14:43 FL South, 14:55 FL final, 8:45i 2-mile

2. Drew Hunter - 14:26 FL South (new longer course), 14:55 FL final, 8:42 2-mile

3. Bobby Lockhart - 14:43 FL South, 14:51 FL final, 8:58 2-mile

4. Sean McGorty - 14:28 FL South, 15:05 FL final, 8:46 3200

5. Charles Alexander - 8:55 2-mile, 14:51 Kinney Nationals

6. Jim Hill - 8:56 2-mile

7. George Watts - 14:35 3-mile XC

No offense, but as dominant as Watts was in 73-74, there have been multiple sub-15 XC guys and sub-8:55 two-milers to come out of VA that are not on this list. Not sure who deserves to be on.

I am completely open to others' opinion for NH Boys...

1- Matt Downin

2- John Mortimer

3- Russell Brown

4- Guor Majak

5- Alex Hernandez

6- Cory Thorne

7- Mark Kimball

This is pretty close to what I would choose for NH also. If you didn't know already, lancertiming.com has the history of New Hampshire XC from 1985-2015 if you wanted more info on choosing a team.

Possibly someone like Eric Jenkins or Eli Moskowitz could be added?

Pittman was right there with Zishka but never won a Xc title. The hard part with times on the split years was knowing if the winner ran as hard as he could or held back and kicked at the end.

I found where Craven got 4th in 17: 01 at Kinney in 1981but she never ran for her school. She ran a 10:13 indoor 2 mile in 1982 which I believe is still the fastest in Ohio a little faster than Heffernan. Also found where she ran a 1 mile Xc race in 6:08 as a 6 yr old. In 1981 Craven finished second behind Jan Merrill at the nyrr international Xc invite. Merrill had just recently broken the 10k American record. In the men's race, Coghlan outkicked Rono. Craven is listed as running for the rainbow tc in Columbus. She was the U.S. National 10k champion on the roads in 1981. When she was 11 She also ran a 7.8 mile race at 5:26 pace! Sorry off topic but very interesting.

Jefe in the CO wrote:

I'll take a shot at the Florida list: (Boys and Girls taken from the Nason and Lady Nason Line list compiled by Michael Warre - who probably should be on the list except for some bad luck)

1. Keith Brantley - 9:03 2 mile xc postal, Olympian

2. Brett Hoffman - 8:53 2 mile (8:56 2 mile as sophomore)

3. Herb Wills – 9:00 2 mile/National Jr. XC Champion

4. Andres Arroyo – 8:51 3200

5. Brian Jaeger – 8:57 2 mile/ 8th FL

6. Steven Hassen – 8:52 3200 (Indoor 8:57 2 mile)

7. Basil Magee – 9:02 2 mile xc postal beating Keith (4:08 mile in Spring with a 1:59 finishing split).

Teddy Mitchell, Brian Good, Moise Joseph, Rolf Steier, Matt Mizerick, Ken Clark, Andy Biladeau

Interesting info wrote:

Pittman was right there with Zishka but never won a XC title. The hard part with times on the split years was knowing if the winner ran as hard as he could or held back and kicked at the end.

Pittman was outstanding but covered the same years as Zishka and Nicholas. He did not win a state title but had plenty of runner-up finishes. He won NCAA steeple as a freshman so the talent was there. Like Sence who was 2nd in the nation but 2nd in his state because of Kennedy, Pittman had a similar fate. I would place Pittman on the list ahead of 1-2 of the guys listed, but that might be my bias.

Another interesting runner who did not run for her high school was Kathy Bryant who went on to Tennessee to place nationally and held a few records.

Need to correct the VCP distance - it is 2.5 miles.

McCarey doesn't make the cut IMO - 12:25 at VCP back in the day was huge, but just not enough supporting that effort for me to make him a top 7.

A fellow CHSAA guy of that era like Gene McCarthy would be a more worthy candidate (he had 5 runs of 12:30.0 or faster at VCP; tied with Osto for the most ever). Even a guy like Dobrzynski would belong on this list over McCarey IMO. As a former CHSAA guy I can say that things get skewed when relying predominantly on the VCP 2.5 mile list. It's the CHSAA's "home" course, so there are way more opportunities to run there than others have, especially in the past when you didn't see the upstate NY runners come down to VCP in the same numbers they do today for Manhattan/Easterns.

One other name not mentioned thus far is Marty Beauchamp. He never ran the VCP 2.5 miles, but he held the VCP 5k CR (15:15.9 winning '80 Feds) for a couple of years in the early 80s. He finished a pretty close 3rd place at the '80 Kinney Nationals. Anthony Smith (another name not mentioned yet) went on to break the VCP 5k record in '82 (15:14.2), with that standing for over 20 years until McDougal broke it. Anthony Smith and his archrival Mike Collins both were in the top 5 at the '82 Kinney Nationals.

Like I said earlier, a case could be made for probably well over 20 guys for these 7 spots. That's why I like to look at things that differentiate some of these guys, such as multiple years of top performances/championships meaning more (to me) than a single spectacular season.

I love the feedback and appreciate the contributions, and even though he is a friend of mine, I will cut Kevin McCarey, but I just need you to tell which guy takes his place. Thanks for the correction on the VCP course distance as well.

I'm heading home so I'll post what I have for today. I know we are talking about XC runners, but with the variety of courses, I feel like the addition of track times will help when we get down to scoring a meet like this. Even with the definitive nature of the clock though, I find myself feeling like in some instances a faster time doesn't necessarily supersede one runner over another. For example, I feel that Jeff Nelson, Eric Hulst, and Thom Hunt would be the #1-2-3 guys on the CA team over a faster #4 German Fernandez.

Illinois

1) Lukas Verzbicas (8:29.46 for 2 mi)

2) Craig Virgin (8:40.9 for 2 mi/13:58 for 5k)

3) Chris Derrick (13:55.6 for 5k)

4) Donald Sage (8:45.92c for 2 mi)

5) Matt Withrow

6) Tom Graves (8:51.9 for 2 mi)

7) Jorge Torres

Oregon (all XC times (5000m) except for Pre are from LCC state meet XC course)

1. Steve Prefontaine (14:29 converted from 11:30 for 2.5 mi; 8:41.6 for 2 mi; 13:43 for 3 mi)

2. Galen Rupp (14:55; 13:37.91 for 5k)

3. Billy McChesney (14:51; 28:58 for 6 mi)

4. Matthew Maton (14:45)

5. Jeff Hess (14:33)

6. Ian Dobson (15:38)

7 Kenny Klotz (15:03)

California

1. Jeff Nelson (8:36.3 for 2 mi;14:32 for Mt. SAC @ 2.93 mi; 14:15 for 5k)

2. Eric Hulst (8:44.9 for 2 mi; 9:52.7 for Mt. SAC @ 2.06 mi; 4x state 2mi champ; 3x 1mi state champ)

3. Thom Hunt (8:45.2 for 2 mi; 9:45 for Mt. SAC @ 2.06mi)

4. German Fernandez (8:34.4 for 2 mi)

5. Terry Williams (9:48 for Mt. SAC @ 2.06 mi)

6. Ralph Serna (8:45.9 for 2 mi)

7. Rich Kimball (8:51.0 for 2 mi; 14:26.8 for 5k)

Colorado:

1. Adam Goucher

2. Jon Sinclair

3. Brent Vaughn

4. Evan Appel

5. Jon Hume

6. Kevin Williams

7. Conner Winter

Michigan

1. Dathan Rtizenhein (13:44.70 for 5k)

2. Grant Fisher

3. Greg Meyer

4. Herb Lindsay

5. Todd Williams

6. Brian Grosso

7. Abdul Alzindani

Minnesota:

1. Garry Bjorkland

2. Rob Finnerty

3. Ben Blankenship

4. Hassan Mead

5. Garret Heath

6. Elliot Heath

7. Obsa Ali

Massachusetts:

1. Abdirizak Mohammed

2. Alberto Salazar (8:53.8 for 2mi; 14:04.8 for 5k; 12:22.5 for VCP @ 2.5 mi)

3. Andy Powell

4. Franklyn Sanchez

5. Jonathan Riley

6. Art Dulong

7. Dan Moynihan

Ohio

1 George Nicholas

2. Alan Scharsu (8:44.03 for 2mi)

3 Scott Fry (8:47.02 c for 2 mi; 14:19 for 5k)

4 Bob Kennedy

5 Bob Mau (14:58 for 5k XC)

6 John Zishka (8:53.0 for 2mi; 13:55.65 for 5k)

7 Ricky Pittman

Indiana .

1. Rudy Chapa (8:51 for 2 mi)

2. Futsum Zeinasellassie

3. Nef Aria

4. Christian Wagner

5. Ben Veatch

6. Mike Fout

7. De'sean Turner

Alaska

1.Trevor Dunbar

2. Levi Thomet

3. Don Clary (9:04.4 for 2 mi)

4. Miguel Gomez

5. Doug Herron

6. Ty Jordan

7. Laird Prosser

New York

1. Dave Pottetti

2. John Gregorek (8:50.7 for 2 mi; 12:31 for VCP @ 2.5 mi)

3. Luis Ostolozaga (12:16.4 for VCP @ 2.5 mi)

4. John Trautmann (8:44.53c for 2 mi)

5. Matt Centrowitz (8:56.2 for 2 mi)

6. Kevin McCarey

7. Josh McDougal (8:48.11 for 2 mi)

New Jersey

1. Ches

2. Joe Rosa (8:44.06 for 2 mi)

3. Jim Rosa

4. Marty Liquori (14;23.2 for VCP @ 2.5 mi)

5. Forys

6. Di Joseph

7. Brad Hudson (12:15.7 for VCP @ 2.5 mi)

Virginia

1. Alan Webb (14:43 5k; 8:45i 2mi)

2. Drew Hunter (14:26 5k; 8:42 2mi)

3. Bobby Lockhart (14:43 5k; 8:58 2mi)

4. Sean McGorty (14:28 5k; 8:46 3200)

5. Charles Alexander (8:55 2-mi; 14:51 Kinney Nationals)

6. Jim Hill 8:56 2mi

7. George Watts 14:35 3-mile XC

Wisconsin

1. Chris Solinsky (8:46.44c for 2 mi)

2. John Easker

3. Tim Hacker

4. Keith Hanson

5. Steve Lacy

6. Chris Rombough

7. Scott Jenkins

Utah

1. Ed Eyestone

2. Josh Rohatinsky

3. Luke Puskedra

4. Austin West

5. Ben Saarel

6. Connor McMillan

7. Connor Mantz

Mississippi

1. George Kersh

2. Jake Raines

3. Robert Scribner

4. Max Holman

5. Kyle Lewis

6. Brian Pope

North Carolina

1. Bobby Mack

2. Jake Hurysz

3. Ryan Hill

4. Jack Bolas

5. Taylor Gilland

6. Thomas Graham

Connecticut

1. Kevin King

2. JT Burke

3. Ahmed Haji

4. Donn Cabral

5. Alex Ostberg

6. Gavin Coombs

Washington

1. Gerry Lindgren (8:40i for 2 mi; 13:44 for 5k)

2. Matt Davis

3. Tanner Anderson

4. Issac Hawkins

5. John Dressel

6. Andrew Gardner

7. Rick Reilly (8:48.4 for 2mi; 14:00.2 for 5k)

South Dakota

1. Rod DeHaven

2. Buddy Edelen

3. Mike Dunlap

4. Paul Cummings'

5. Denis Fikes

6. Tony Smoragiewicz

7. Jim Reinhardt

Nebraska

1. Colby Wissel

2. Seth Hirsch

3. Brian Turner

4. Todd Guilizia

5. Nate Nielsen

6. Paul Schultz

7. David Adams

Arkansas

1. Brian Baker

2. Eric Gross

3. Gabe Gonzales

4. Aaron Hamilton

5. Brendan Taylor

6. Will Aenchbacher

7. Cameron Efurd

Kentucky

1. Jimmy Herald

2. Thomas Murley

3. Bobby Curtis

4. Rob Shoaf

5. Mike Wilson

Kansas

1. Jim Ryun

2. Brent Steiner (8:47.0 for 2 mi)

3. Steve Fein

4. Billy Mills

5. Lane Boyer

6. Kevin Newkirk

7. Chris Williams

Iowa

1. Phil Coppess

2. Mark Johnson

3. Matt Gabrielson

4. Josh Moen

5. Kiel Uhl

6. Thomas Pollard

7. Jim Eicken

Maine

1. Bruce Bickford

2. Ben True

3. Dan Curts

4. Matt McClintock

5. Will Geohegan

6. Louie Luchini

7. Matt Lane

Pennsylvania

1. Craig Miller

2. Dan Coval

3. Ian Gottesfeld

4. Tony Russell

5. Paul Springer

6. Paul Vandegrift

7. Mike McWilliams

Georgia

1. Ben Hubers

2. Kirubel Erassa

3. Girma Mecheso

4. Josh Brickell

5. Ralph King

6. Travis Grindstaff

7. Willie Nelson

Texas

1. Reuben Reina

2. Craig Lutz

3. Brad Hauser

4. Brent Hauser

5. Steve Magness

6. Bobby Aguirre

7. Alan Culpepper

Maryland

1. Matt Centrowitz

2. Solomon Haile

3. Jesse O Connoll

4. Pat Bailey

5. Marcus Hershberger

6. Steve Duplinsky

7. Ricky Flynn

Florida

1. Keith Brantley (9:03 2 mi)

2. Brett Hoffman (8:53 2 mi)

3. Herb Wills (9:00 2 mi)

4. Andres Arroyo (8:51 3200)

5. Brian Jaeger (8:57 2 mi)

6. Steven Hassen (8:52 3200m)

7. Basil Magee (9:02 2 mi)

New Mexico

1. Tony Sandoval

2. George Young

3. Chuck Aragon

4. Shadrack Kiptoo (8:45.02 for 2 mi; 4:02 mi)

5. Matt Tebo (8:47 2 mi)

6. David Krumanacker

7. Brandon Leslie

Wyoming

1. Jim McCreery

2. Rob Marney

3. Brody Smith

4. Matt Heller

Missouri

1. Joe Falcon

2. Matt Tegenkamp

3. Jason Pyrah

4. Mark Curp

5. Jeff Pigg

6. Chris Borsa

7. Chris Zinn

New Hampshire

1. Matt Downin

2. John Mortimer

3. Russell Brown

4. Guor Majak

5. Alex Hernandez

6. Cory Thorne

7. Mark Kimball

Still waiting for:

Alabama

Arizona

Delaware

Hawaii

Idaho

Louisiana: Bobby Beck, John Ratcliffe

Montana

Nevada

North Dakota

Oklahoma

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee: Andrew Bumbalough (8:49.87 for 2 mi)

Vermont

West Virginia

I should have gone through that list. There are a bunch of runners including Jenkins, Moskowitz, Alex McGrath, Maltani, Truax that could fit in but I'd say for Hernandez or Brown (who was a monster on the track). Lastly, I go on who I saw more than the list. Thanks for the check in though. Didn't want to not have these kids ignored on the post.

Lenny Leonard wrote:

some VA times:

Virginia

1. Alan Webb - 14:43 FL South, 14:55 FL final, 8:45i 2-mile

2. Drew Hunter - 14:26 FL South (new longer course), 14:55 FL final, 8:42 2-mile

3. Bobby Lockhart - 14:43 FL South, 14:51 FL final, 8:58 2-mile

4. Sean McGorty - 14:28 FL South, 15:05 FL final, 8:46 3200

5. Charles Alexander - 8:55 2-mile, 14:51 Kinney Nationals

6. Jim Hill - 8:56 2-mile

7. George Watts - 14:35 3-mile XC

No offense, but as dominant as Watts was in 73-74, there have been multiple sub-15 XC guys and sub-8:55 two-milers to come out of VA that are not on this list. Not sure who deserves to be on.

Hill was faster than that and he graduated the year that Kinney started so he missed out on that.

2 Miles

21 8:47.77 Jim Hill Oakton, Vienna VA '79

rep the yung gunz too wrote:

THE California All-tIme HS All-Star "XC" Team:

Nelson

Hulst

Fernandez

Davis

Dameworth

Rocha

Moussa

Tamagno

(I know that's 8)

Note: "No 2015 XC" "aren't on that level for XC"

On what level are you talking about?

Rocha & Tamagno:

#2 & #1 @ Mt. Sac- History All-Time, #5 & #7 @ Woodward Park- History All-Time , 2nd & 5th @ Footlocker, Both NXN All-American, Top 10 list Freshman thru Senior All-time @ Woodward Park.

Rocha Top 10 D1 @ State all 4 years (All-State), Tamagno Top 10 D3 @ State all 4 years (All-State), Both (2 time) Individual XC State Champs.

And both holding other course records...

Rich Kimball has to be on California's team. He went undefeated in fall of 1973 dominating everyone including Kingery. He also ran 13:43.6 3-mile on track that fall and then was the World Junior cross country champion.

I'm not including anything he did on the track.

Terry Williams also should be on it. Just look him to see how good he was the fall of 1972.

For the rule enforcers, how do you consider:

Case 1.) Athletes that moved states, ie. an athlete that was very good for one high school as a junior, crossed state lines and was elite/footlocker qualifier for a high school in another state.

Case 2.) Athlete that lived in one state while attending private high school in another state, ie. happens frequently in Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland.